'Leave Fuel Subsidy Removal For Now, Concentrate on Boko Haram' - Bishop Kukah


BISHOP MATTHEW HASSAN KUKAH’S THOUGHTS ON THE STATE OF THE NATION.
Excerpts:
The posture of the Federal Government of Nigeria in refusing to engage the populace with regard to the fuel subsidy issue is unacceptable, because the citizens must have a say in how they are governed in every democracy. Dividends of democracy cannot only be measured by the number of infrastructure a particular administration is able to give to its citizens but by the level of fundamental rights of the citizens. Democracy is not about infrastructure. If is measured by infrastructure then South Africa should have continued under apartheid because, most of the infrastructure in South Africa was put in place by the apartheid regime in that country. So also is Germany, if democracy were about infrastructure, the Germans should apologize to Adolf Hitler because Hitler developed Germany.
Good governance goes beyond infrastructure, any system of government that denies its citizens a say is courting trouble for the nation. The citizens must be allowed to have a say in the social, economic development of their nation.
The issue of fuel subsidy removal is minute compared to the level of insecurity that the nation is going through now. Lots of innocent lives have been lost, there is need for this present administration to concentrate more on how to tackle the issue of Boko Haram and leave fuel subsidy removal for now.
How is it that we live in a society that has made a pact with evil?! We expect that our leaders should engage us and allow us to have a say in how we are governed. We say to the government of Nigeria that we refuse to believe that there is not enough for everyone in the vault. I always wonder to see an elected officer celebrating the construction of a borehole for his people as dividend of democracy.  Any system of government that denies ordinary citizens the opportunity to express their fears, to express their anxiety is courting trouble because these emotions would find explosions elsewhere.
How is it that we are living in a society that has shown no commitment to deal with issues of accountability, transparency, and honesty?! These are the things that democracy has to do for us. We expect those who we elect to represent us, to engage us in finding solutions to our country. When we say that we believe in God’s capacity to intervene, we should also know that God doesn’t share His glory with anybody nor share His throne with anyone. We must raise the yellow flag because of where we are in this journey; we ought to have covered far more mileage than we have covered. I think the point still remains that those who govern us should come up with a roadmap for us.   

Comments as made by Bishop M.H. Kukah at a Christmas Carol in Abuja, 13/12/2011. 

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

PAUL UNONGO FINALLY PAYS COW DEBT OWED FULANI BY TIV!!!

The Amazing Health Benefits of Eating Grasshoppers

THE MANY HEALTH BENEFITS OF LOCUST BEANS (NUNE)